Mastering Successful Work: Skillful Means: Wake Up!

Skillful Means Series #2

by Tarthang Tulku

The long-awaited sequel to the classic Skillful Means: Patterns of Success, Mastering Successful Work shows how to make work into a path of realization and transformation -- an art form that blends practical results, deep enjoyment, and inner fulfillment. Cutting across disciplines such as management, psychology, communications studies, and spirituality, this book speaks to the need for work to express our highest values. It presents a step-by-step approach to penetrating obstacles and clearing up the negative consequences of past actions. This way of working activates our talents and intelligence, increasing personal enjoyment and deepening spiritual well-being while improving practical results in the world of work. Eighty-seven exercises, most of which can be done on the job. A major new work on integrating spiritual values with work. A 57-page Workbook supports practice of the exercises.

Genres: Buddhism

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche (དར་ཐན་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ dar-than sprul-sku rin-po-che) is a Tibetan teacher ("lama") in the Nyingma ("old translation") tradition. Having received a complete Buddhist education in pre-diaspora Tibet, he taught philosophy at Sanskrit University in India from 1962 to 1968, and emigrated to America in 1969, where he settled in Berkeley, CA. He is often credited as having introduced the Tibetan medicine practice of Kum Nye (སྐུ་མཉེ sku mnye་, "subtle-body massage") to the West.

In 1963, he founded Dharma Publishing in Varanasi, India, moving it to California in 1971. The main purpose of the publishing house is to preserve and distribute Tibetan Buddhist teachings and to bring these teachings to the West.

Neither Rinpoche nor Tulku are surnames; the former is an honorific applied to respected teachers meaning "Precious One," while the latter is a title given to those who have be recognized an the reincarnation of a previous lama.

Reviews

[Tami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skillful Means: Wake Up! Is a follow up to the author's book Skillful Means: Patterns for Success. In Skillful Means: Patterns for Success, the author examined the problem of work apathy and poor performance. He noted that most of us get very little actual work done each day. We may look busy but our minds are often distracted when we are actually working. At other times, we are busy making excuses, finding busy work, or procrastinating. In order to counter this common occurrence, the author challenged readers to look at work in a different way. Exercises included within the text help reader tackle difficult projects, use time more wisely, and to be mindful while working. The result was better quality work, completed faster, from employees who actually felt good about their jobs.

Skillful Means: Wake Up! follows through on the notions presented in Skillful Means: Patterns for Success. This book is somewhat more in depth taking on even more aspects and presenting over 80 more exercises for the reader to work through.

I found Skillful Means: Wake Up! a little header than Skillful Means: Patterns for Success. I found that as I read through the exercises in the latter, I could then practice them the next day at work. I could even practice several exercises at a time as they tended to compliment each other quite nicely, directing me towards mindfulness. I had to take the exercises in Skillful Means: Wake Up! a little slower. Sometimes, I had to practice a particular exercise or contemplate a concept for a while before I felt ready to move onto the next one. It was definitely worth the extra time and patience though as I learned a lot about myself.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helps Buddhist practitioners look at ways to incorporate mindfulness into the everyday nuances of working. I feel that it would be useful to those that are not Buddhist, but are disenfranchised with their work environment or daily grind and want to find a way to derive self-actualization no matter where they are.

Although this book's exercises can take many months to complete I would strongly recommend giving the number of weeks and days recommended on each before moving onto the next chapter. Some of the tasks took over one month to complete, but provided valuable feedback for myself. I can now see how my productivity and happiness correlate, and how I can derive meaning and happiness from even the simplest task.

I feel this book has brought an increase to my concentration, as well as helped me learn how to better manage my stress levels when under extreme pressures from tight deadlines.